Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/256

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BUFFALO 224 BUFFALO portion of the Niagara river front rises in an abrupt bluff and is known as The Front. It affords a grand view in all directions and is the site of Fort Porter, where several companies of United States troops are stationed. The Pa- rade Ground is one of the principal parks and contains 50 acres of land. Notable Buildings. — The principal public buildings are the Federal Build- ing, containing the PostofRce and Cus- tom House, a large building of free- stone; the State Arsenal; the Board of Trade Building; the Old and New Ar- mories; Grosvenor Library; Normal School; two public high schools; Erie County and Buffalo Savings Banks; the Erie County Penitentiary; and the City and County Hall. The latter is of granite with a tower 245 feet high, situ- ated in Franklin street, completed in 1880 at a cost of about $1,400,000. Be- sides these, there is the Buffalo Library, in Lafayette Square, containing a cir- culating library of 77,000 volumes, and, in the same building, are the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo Fine Arts Society and School orf Arts, and the So- ciety of National Sciences. The State Insane Asylum has a plot of 203 acres and adjoins the Buffalo Park. Other notable structures are the numerous grain elevators. Buffalo is one of the greatest grain shipping cities of the United States and contains some of the largest grain elevators in the world. The first elevator in the world was built at Buffalo in 1843. Commerce. — Buffalo has had an as- tonishing industrial growth. Its loca- tion at the eastern terminus of trans- portation on the Great Lakes has made it an important station on the highway connecting the growing West with the eastern seaboard It is one of the world's greatest ports, and despite the fact that navigation on the Great Lakes is limited to about eight months of the year, the city stands eighth in tonnage among the ports of the world. Clear- ances are issued to 10,000 vessels annu- ally. The grain receipts in 1919 totaled 93,627,867 bushels. Receipts of coal over water routes were 69,805, tons; copper, 52,501 tons; pig iron, 2,650 tons; mer- chandise, 113,937 tons; stone flux, 960,- 337 tons; iron ore, 4,837,981 tons; lum- ber, 16,374,708 feet. In addition to the foregomg, there is the tremendous ton- nage of the railroads, operating twelve months in the year instead of eight, but for which only fragmentary statistics are available, it being impossible to ob- tain from the railroads the record which would make such a computation possible. Additional great quantities of grain are received by rail, together with an enor- mous coal tonnage and miscellaneous freight amounting to millions of tons. Buffalo is also one of the country's mos' important live-stock markets, receipts for 1919 including 9,522 cars of cattle, 7,993 of hogs, 3,156 of sheep, 773 of horses, and 4,535 mixed cars. The im- portance of the city as a killing and packing center is seen in the comparison of the foregoing figures with the ship- ment from Buffalo for the same period, which amounted to 5,582 cars of cattle and 3,223 hogs. The stockyards are the second largest in the world. It is the first sheep market in the country and the second horse market. It is also the world's largest lumber market. Manufactures. — As a manufacturing center, Buffalo ranks ninth among the cities of the United States. It is known as the "City of Diverse Industries," pro- ducing in quantities 58 per cent, of all the different lines of goods recognized by the U. S. Census Bureau. It is one of the most extensive producers of pig iron in the world, having over 20 large blast furnaces with a combined annual capac- ity of between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 tons. It has the largest dye plant in the country. It produces one-third of the nation's linseed oil. There are 2,500 manufacturing plants employing 75,000 men and women. The principal indus- tries are steel, pig iron, coke, flour, tan- ning, wall board, linseed oil, dyes, auto- mobiles, rubber, benzol, cereals, lumber, copper, brass, leather, soap, and packing products. Banking. — There are sixteen banks, with a combined capital of $18,300,000, and surplus and profits amounting to $20,332,427, with total deposits of $245,- 766,717. The savings-banks deposits, Jan. 1, 1920, were $126,247,413. The bank clearances for 1919 were $1,655,- 366,659. There are 27 savings and loan associations. Education. — There are 66 public schools, with an enrolment of 65,265 pupils, and 62 parochial schools, with an average attendance of 30,000. There are 5 high schools, 4 vocational schools, 1 training school, 1 normal school of prac- tice, and 1 opportunity school. There are 2,700 teachers and employees. In addi- tion, there are many night and vacation schools. Higher education is afforded by the University of Buffalo, Canisius College, and Holy Angels Academy. The public library has 400,000 volumes, and 4,500 pamphlets, and over 130,000 indi- vidual borrowers made use of its circu- lating department in 1919. The Gros- venor Library has 136,000 volumes. Other institutions are the Buffalo His-